The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. XII, Part 93

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 438

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We earnestly invite public attention to this calcula- tion. We think the estimates of costs are fair, and ful- ly adequate to complete the buildings named. The other item in the data, is not conjecture nor hypothesis; but matter of sober fact; the result of more than four years' experience. Students of fifteen years and up- wards, by laboring three hours per day, can earn forty dollars per year. So that if one hundred youth from good common schools, be placed in such an establish- ment, and be kept diligently employed eight hours at study and three at labor each day, in six years they will graduate respectably, and the exercise necessary to health, being expended in manual labor, will pay for the entire college premises. Again, therefore, we invite the public, and especially the strong armed yeomanry of the country-its bone, sinew, and nerve,. to examine this calculation. If there be an error let it be pointed out. If not, then come-seize with a firm and manly grasp, the La Fayette Plough; drive a deep furrow; let the virgin soil, which has slept for ages in darkness, see the sun; cast in with generous hands the good seed in its season; and wait with humble confidence its re- turn in a rich and abundant harvest.

TERMS.

Winter Session of twenty-four H'ceks.

For Tuition, $15 00

do. in the English branches, (preparatory

school,) 10 00

Lodging, use of Tools, and Shop room, 5 00

Boarding, $1 50 per week, 36 00

Total for tuition, boarding, lodging, and shop room, for 24 weeks, $56 00

* The above in advance, *

From which the student may deduct, by laboring three hours per day, one-fourth or one-half.

(Appendix will be inserted hereafter. )

INGRAHAM'S ADDRESS BEFORE THE LAW ACADEMY.

An Address delivered before the Law Academy of Phi- ladelphia, at the opening of the Session of 1828-9; by Edward D. Ingraham, Vice Provost of the Aca- demy.

Gentlemen of the Law'Academy:

The object of our institution is improvement in the science of the law. In a government emphatically of laws, and in a community attentive to the adoption of whatever tends to augment the convenience and hap- piness of its citizens, it is not to be supposed that the system regulating the daily actions of every man has been left untouched by the inquiring and amending spirit of an enlightened age. To this spirit the law academy owes its foundation, advancement, and suc- cess.

It is my intention, in the present address to you, to point out, as well as its limited nature will permit, and as one of the means through which the object of the institution is to be attained, the effects which have been

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produced, by some of the most obvious of the various changes made in the law of this state, upon the studies and character of those who have recently succeeded, and those destined soon to succeed at the bar, a race the models for youthful imitation.

It became early apparent to the legislature of Penn- sylvania, that many of the rules and proceedings of the laws of England, which were in force in the state, might be rendered more simple, intelligible, and effective; and it is not a little interesting now to observe how accu- rately they judged the evils, and to what an extent they anticipated the course of remedy pointed out in the elaborate view of a celebrated modern reformer of the existing evils and abuses of the law in England. The habit, however, of interfering with and altering the law, would seem, like most other habits, to increase in vigor with the growth and strength of the constitution; and unless controlled, produces the usual effect of any un- restrained habit Accordingly, we find the legislature of Pennsylvania occupied within the last five and twen- ty years in altering freely the laws of the commonwealth, and acting apparently under the conviction, that to enable every man to try his own cause, to go to law cheaply, and become a member of the bar with the least possible study or qualification, was making a pro- gress in the course of improvement of the science of law itself.

The most decided of the changes to which I have ad- verted, was that effected by the sixth section of the act of the 26th of March, 1806, entitled, "an act to re- gulate arbitrations and proceedings in courts of jus- tice,"* by virtue of which the most ignorant pretender is placed upon a more desirable footing than the most accomplished pleader, and he who has drawn in the most slovenly and unskilful manner a declaration or a plea, is so far from being prejudiced by it, that to con- vince the court of his blunder may in fact secure him an advantage. The knowledge and sagacity of the oppo- site counsel enable him to detect and point out the de- fect, and it is at once amended according to his view of it, -or knowing what the probable result of the amend- ment may be, he quietly passes it by, for fear by the very amendment, the trial of his own cause may be post- poned. Thus his adversary receives the benefit of his skill, or the advantage of an ignorance which, with such encouragement, it would be worse than folly to over- come by a long course of painful study. Fortunately, however, this section of the statute has had the power to involve the highest tribunal in the state in such con- tradiction as to its true construction, that the two latest reported decisions t upon the subject, though made al. most within four months of each other, are so diametri- cally in oppos tion, that until a third case be decided by the same court, upon the argument of which both those to which I refer shall have been cited, it will hardly be possible for counsel so to conduct themselves as to reap all the benefits of ignorance and inattention.

It has produced the effect also, of causing the profes- sion of the law to be regarded as the resting place of those who do not succeedin other pursuits of life, how- ever unacquainted with the proper preparatory studies or even a common English education ;- and it has more than once occurred to me to hear the sarcasm of a cele- brated writer, "that every man thinks he understands religion and politics though he never studied them, but no man undertakes to make a shoe unless he has served seven years' apprenticeship to the trade," applied as characteristic of the extreme facility with which any individual is transformed, in this state, into a practition- er of law.

Cooperating with the effects of this "omnipotent sta- tute" are the periods of time required by the courts to be dedicated to study previous to admission to the bar .* Three years diligently and faithfully employed, event under the best direction, comprise tuo short a period, at the age at which young men now usually commence their studies with a view to admission to the bar, to enable the student to become sufficiently acquainted with English law, the foundation upon which the super- structure of his future knowledge is to be raised. And after his admission, anxious and eager to get into busi- ness, how often do we find him wasting in ill directed desultory efforts, in causes of small importance, the va- luable time which, properly employed, would still ena- ble him, at a later period, to attain the highest distinc- tions of his profession. His very success is against him, -for though he may succeed for a time in inducing some of the few upon whom a well turned period, from its euphony rather than its application to the particular subject, makes an impression, to trust their interests to his care, yet time brings with it the inevitable result which is to be expected when a man undertakes a task to which he is utterly incompetent. Well would it be for him if his own eyes could be opened by his failure, and amendment be the result. But it is too difficult a labor to resume habits of regular study once abandoned, and he continues his career, kept in countenance by numerous brethren, examples of some of the pernicious effects of the system which I am endeavoring to point out to you, with the hope, at the same time, of being able also to indicate the means of preventing the operation of those effects upon yourselves. 'That I have not drawn an unfaithful picture uf the present state of legal science in this commonwealth, I may with the greatest safety affirm, before those who, as practitioners, are conversant with and deplore the fact; and with the utmost confi- dence I refer him who entertains a doubt to the vol- umes of Pennsylvania reports published within the last fifteen years. The cases exhibit a regular series of ex- periments upon the indulgence of the courts, and an anxious endeavor to establish the reign of carelessness and inattention, and their necessary attendant, ignorance, by adding judicial sanction to their own too powerful natural influence.

Such are the general effects, and most prominent evils to which I have deemed it proper to call your at- tention. The most obvious of the difficulties which they interpose to prevent the student's advancement in legal science before and after his admission to the bar, are next to be noticed. It is through the practice of the courts, and of approved forms of stating legal rights, that legal questions are rendered ripe for discussion. The science of the law is but darkly comprehended by the inquirer who has not ascertained the intimate con- nexion existing between its principles and the practice by which they are carried into effect; and hence, he who neglects the practical routine, is most certain of being imperfectly acquainted with the principles of his profession. A want of precision, and an absence of the unity and symmetry properly attendant upon legal pro- ceedings, impede the progress of the student and practitioner, therefore, in the ratio in which they render the science of the law obscure and incomprehensible. The often renewed and vague discussion consequent upon a loose or imperfect set of pleadings, leads to a grievous waste of the public time, which a more techni- cal mode of proceeding would permit the courts to de- dicate to the purposes for which they were constituted, instead of being obliged to consume in endeavoring to control a series of legal scuffles often subversive of both law and justice.

I am desirous to be understood in a more compre- hensive sense when I use the word "practice," than

* 4 Sm. Laws, p 326. Purd. Dig. 14.

+ Sharp et al. v. Sharp, 13 Serg. & Rawle, 444, de- cided 9 January 1826. Opinion delivered by TILGH- MAN, C. J. Wilson v. Irwin, 14 Serg. & Rawle, 176, decided 24 May 1826. Opinion delivered by ROGERS, J .; Chief Justice TILGHMAN being present.

· Three years if the student commence his studies previous to the age of twenty-one years, and two years if he commence after that age.

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would suggest itself at first to my hearers. It is not to be lost sight of in relation to this subject, that the pecu- liar system of Pennsylvania includes all the principles of the English system of law, whilst it wants most of the peculiar means of carrying those of the principles of that system denominated Equity into effect. Nothing can be understood, comparatively speaking, of Equity, by which far the greater number of the transactions of life are judged and determined, without a proper acquaint- ance with the machinery by which its admirable princi- ples are rendered effective-yet nothing is more com- mon than to discover, that the candidate for admission to the bar, in a state of the courts of which it has been truly said, "that whoever comes into one of them, comes as well into a court of Equity as a court of Law," has never thought of looking into a single treatise of Equity practice, or pleading. He satisfies himself that there is no occasion for any such unnecessary learning, by a recurrence to a phrase often heard from the mouths of our state judges, and as often misunderstood perhaps, ""that there is no Court of Chancery in Pennsylvania;" or if haply he receive an intimation that, in the Cir- cuit Court, the principles and practice are administered by a distinguished judge of Equity, who received his legal education in this city, and whose reported deci- sions show that those who preceded us in our career at the bar were wiser in their generation, he proposes to remedy any deficiency when his practice in that court increases. I cannot suffer this occasion to pass without entering a protest against this dangerous error. The practitioner of law in this state should be deeply versed in the principles and practice of Equity. Not only are some of the powers and modes of proceeding. peculiar to the English courts of Equity, specially delegated to our courts by the constitution, and others by different acts of assembly, to say nothing of their general exer- cise by the Orphan's Court, itself a Court of Equity, but such a knowledge is absolutely requisite to enable him to adapt the imperfect modes of proceeding through which the judges endeavor to supply the want of a court of Equity, to cases which the progress of society, and the increasing wealth and prosperity of the state are continually forcing upon the profession for considera- tion. The state is surrounded, too, by sister states pos- sessing Courts of Equity, whose proceedings and de- crees are often the subject of discussion in our courts, and present cases in which ignorance of the principles and practice of Equity would be fatal to the interests of a client, if not ruinous to the reputation of his legal ad- viser.

It is to be expected of me, that after having pointed out some of the defects of the present system of pre- paration for admission, and the tendencies and results of the loose state of practice at the bar, I would suggest the proper remedies. I do not hesitate to do so. The propriety of pointing out what is deemed evil and er- ror, is often to be determined by the intention in so do- ing to assist thereby in effecting their amelioration or total removal; and however feeble the effort may be, to make it is one of the duties of the station I fill in the Academy, and a part of the great duty which every man owes to his profession. The courts only have the power to add to the length of time required to be de- voted to the study of the law. It is for them to inter- pose their authority, and insist upon more perfect know- ledge, before they suffer that sanction of qualification, admission to the bar, to mislead those who regard it as evidence of capability, and rely upon it in their choice of a guide through legal difficulties. Let me not be told that the fame of Erskine and Curran, whose periods of study were not longer than those which I wish to see increased,is an answer to this suggestion. Elevated to the highest judicial offices of the country, they added to the number of examples that prove, how little reliance is to be placed upon hasty preparation for the bar-truly has it been said by a writer to whom we are all indebt- ed, "that in an English court of justice the veriest dolt

that ever stammered a sentence, would be more attend- ed to with a case in point, than Cicero, with all his elo- quence, unsupported by authorities." The few re- ported cases decided by Lord Erskine prove how little he was qualified for the station of Lord Chancellor of England, with all the assistance which it is well known he derived from the ability and learning of Hargrave; and one solitary caset is found in print of all the deci- sions of Curran, while Master of the Rolls of Ireland- stronger evidence of his unfitness for that judicial sta- tion than the disgust with which he accepted the office. In the power of the courts, also, is the remedy of re- quiring from the bar more attention to the practical part of the duties of their profession; and it is a duty they owe to themselves and the public, not to encour- age and augment ignorance and carelessness, by per- mitting amendments to be made out, of tenderness to the interests of a client committed to unskilful hands. Let it be once understood, that the client will be visit- ed with the consequences of his counsel's error or igno- rance, and there will be little error or ignorance to complain of-the time of the courts will be amply suffi- cient for the discharge of all their duties, and if any reason exists for an application to the highest tribunal in the state,the profession will be spared the mortification of hearing it so often declared, upon the decision of the case in that court, "that the record presents a tissue of extravagant blunders."#

Thus much can be done by the courts-the other re- medies, Gentlemen of the Law Academy, are in your own power,and rest with yourselves. They consist in an ardent zeal for the acquisition of a knowledge of the principles and practice of your profession-of perseverance in la- bour-of an exclusive devotion to the law itself. "The law, I am afraid, requires the whole man-admits of no concurrent pursuits," and demands the industry of a laborious, perhaps a long life. The united testimonies of the wisest among its professors attest its all engross- ing nature, and their conviction, that an attention to subjects without the pale of the profession is always injurious, by diverting into other channels the patience, resolution, and energy requisite to eminence. Who is ignorant of the fervour by which Sir William Jones was animated-of the devotion of Fearne-of Blackstone's sacrifice of his favourite studies, commemorated by him in imperishable poetry-his last indulgence. §

It cannot be expected that I should now point out the particular course of study, by which the student is to attain the knowledge of his future profession. The limits of an address do not permit me to do more than express my decided approbation of that recommended by Mr. Butler in his Reminiscences. [] Let me join also that distinguished lawyer in his protest against the ge- neral opinion, that the law is a dry and unpleasant study; such, he says, he never found it, and such, I be- lieve with him, "it has never been found by any per- son, who has applied himself to it with sufficient natural and acquired endowments, and a determined resolution not to be disheartened by its first difficulties "

I feel that I should omit a most material suggestion, did I not, in addition to what has been said upon the necessity of a longer period of study, urge upon you the advantage, or rather the necessity of devoting the first three years after your admission to the bar to study, and of refraining from engaging in much business. This period may be most usefully employed by the student

* Mr. Maddock's Principles and Practice of the High Court of Chancery-close of the preface.

t Merry v. Power, Speeches of the Right Honoura- ble John Philpot Curran, Master of the kolls, in Ire- land. p. 477, 4th Edit. Lond. 8vo, 1815.

# See Sweigart v. Lowmurter, 14 Serg. & Rawle, p. 202.

§ " The Lawyer's Farewell to his Muse." Dodsley's Miscellanies, Vol. 4.

| Part I. p. 54, N. York Edit, 1824.

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who has begun later in life, and is fully aware of the importance of uniting discipline of mind to acquired knowledge; and for him who has begun earlier life, it will correct the error, of having taken upon himself the duties of an important profession proportionably too young. It may also be dedicated with the greatest ad- vantage to acquiring modes of business, by attendance upon the courts, and observation of the course pursued in the conduct of causes by those to whom practice has given skill-to those who know the importance of ex- perience and habit in the examination of witnesses, and the danger to be apprehended from the answer of an indiscreet question, I need not urge this suggestion- they are well aware, that to the practitioner a want of business habits is a defect for which no learning can compensate, no talents atone.

Let me impress upon you the necessity, after you · become practitioners, of bestowing the utmost care upon the pleadings and papers which you prepare. No one can hope to use with effect his knowledge of the prin- ciples of law, if he be unskilful or slovenly in the forms of it-the only medium through which its principles . can be administered. Allow me also to say, that skill in this branch of your profession is not only one of the surest tests of general qualification in it; but that the saving of time which it ensures, can only be fully known by those whose attendance upon the courts shows them the result of a different course of proceed- ing; while at the same time the satisfaction and freedom from anxiety, which it procures, cannot be fully appre- ciated by those who have never endured the reproaches of a client, whose judgment has been arrested or re- versed, after an arduous and expensive trial on the merits of his cause, because his counsel, notwithstanding all the assistance to be derived from the many excellent practical works upon pleading,to which he might have had recourse, negligently prepared an insufficient de- claration.

Before I conclude, let me ask of you, Gentlemen of the Law Academy, a strict attendance upon the duties of the academy during the ensuing session. As prepar- atory exercises for a state of future professional exer- tion, its duties, pursued with fidelity and constancy, are to you of the utmost importance. They do not, it is true, assist directly in giving that facility of applying your knowledge to the conduct of a nisi, prius cause which actual experience will hereafter supply; but they And on the 18th of February, 1769, an act was pass- ed, (chap. 587,) with a similar preamble, to punish by a fine of five hundred pounds, and twelve months' im- prisonment, any person or persons, who singly, or in companies, should presume to settle upon any lands within the boundaries of this province, not purchased will enable you to ascertain and estimate your own progress in acquiring the principles of law; and by con- vincing you of the necessity of industry, order, and comparison in the preparation of your arguments upon the question to be discussed, lay the foundation of habits and acquirements the best securities of future of the Indians, or who should make, or cause any sur- eminence and success.

LAND TITLES. (Continued from page 312.)

Having thus given a connected view of the Indian purchases, and some notices of the discontent occasion- ed by encroachments on the Indian lands; it is material to state the acts of the government, legislative and exe- cutive, to restrain these illegal proceedings, and restore harmony between the province and the Indian tribes; and finally to show their operation upon a certain class of land titles.

The proprietors professed not to sell any lands be- yond the boundaries of the purchases. If surveys were made over them without their consent, they were illegal and void. To have departed from this principle would have occasioned wars of a most fatal kind to the inter- ests of the province; and would have been a violation of the most solemn engagements with the natives, The line of duty was therefore plain, and every moral and political obligation, commanded them to pursue it.

"That if any person presume to buy any land of the natives, within the limits of this province and territories, without leave from the proprietaries thereof, every such bargain or purchase shall be void and of no effect. To this act there was a supplement, passed February 14th; 1729-30, (chap. 312.)

By an act passed February 3d, 1768, (chap. 570,) af- ter the preamble in these words, "Whereas many dis- orderly people, in violation of his majesty's proclama- tion, have presumed to settle upon lands not yet pur- chased from the Indians, to their damage and great dis- satisfaction, which may be attended with dangerous and fatal consequences to the peace and safety of this pro- vince," it was enacted, that if any person settled on the unpurchased lands, neglected or refused to remove from the same within thirty days after they were requir- ed so to do, by persons to be appointed for that pur- pose by the governor, or by his proclamation, or being so removed, should return to such settlement, or to the settlement of any other person, with or without a family, to remain and settle on such lands, or if any person, af- ter such notice, resided and settled on such lands, eve- ry such person, so neglecting or refusing to remove, or returning to settle as aforesaid, or that should settle after the requisition or notice aforesaid, being legally convicted, was to be punished with death without be- nefit of clergy. But this act was not to extend to per- sons then, or thereafter settled on the main roads, or communications, leading through the province to Fort Pitt, with the approbation and permission of the com- mander in chief of his majesty's forces, &c. or in the neighborhood of Fort Pitt, under such permission, or to a settlement made by George Croghan, deputy su- perintendant of Indian affairs, and Sir William Johnson, on the Ohio, above the said fort.

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The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. XII, Part 93

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870 Publication date: 1828 Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ; Number of Pages: 438

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 438